Legend of the Rose
by NightyNightUK
Summary: as rose begins to rememeber who she is character traits that she had long forgoten begin to surface. some implied femslash.
1. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 revised

Sorry about the wait. I moved to Tokyo with my family, and getting used to the schools here was really hard. I read all of your reviews and decided to re work the whole thing so if you have read it already please do so again.

Hopefully this will read better than it did the first go round 

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men but I just might own Rose ya never know

Chapter one

I had learned long ago that life isn't perfect. As a mutant I've had to live all of my life in seclusion, not letting any one see what I am behind closed doors. This however was my chance to wipe the slate clean and start all over again. It was a perfect spring day and I was standing out side of a large stately mansion in upstate New York. The mansion was used as a school for people like me where we could live in peace without having to worry about the outside world. What I saw through the large Iron Gate seemed to contradict everything I had heard about the institute. Glass was strung all over the front walkway and there were groups of people repairing broken windows and walls covered in what looked like bullet holes. I was starting to turn around and leave when a short athletic man with weird hair called out to me

"Hey bub, you must be the new recruit Xavier was waiting for."

"Ye-yeah I was supposed to meet with him today" I said almost half-heartedly

"Well come on in he's waiting for you inside" the man had a distinctive Canadian accent with just enough brass to make you think twice before disobeying him.

The doors to the gate opened and the man put one of his large powerful hands on my shoulder and lead me into the mansion.

When we stepped inside I was overtaken by how grandiose the interior was. The man that I had been following led me a short ways along a wooden paneled hallway into a large roomy office occupied by an older balding man in a wheelchair.

As I came in he turned to greet me. "I hope your trip here was pleasant."

I answered him with a half thought "yeah", while examining all of the books and fixtures in his office.

"This office is amazing," I said while still consumed by my new environment

"Welcome to my home I must apologize for the mess out side"

"It looks like a war zone out there" referring to the debris I had passed earlier

"Everything should be in order by morning" he said while pulling out some sort of map of the school. " This should help you to get around."

"What exactly did you want me for"?

"I read your transcript file from Manchester university." pointing to a folder on his desk. "We have been in need of a good ancient history teacher for some time, all of your professors seemed to think very highly of you"

"Yeah well I always thought the best way for people to keep from finding out about my mutation was to bury myself in a book."

"Considering that you graduated from prep school and went to university at the age of 14 I would say that your approach was a successful one yet I would venture to guess that you have been quite lonely."

"As open as England seems to be to all walks of life no one is perfect" I tried to hide the tears as I recalled the first time I had shown signs of being a mutant.

Xavier leaned over and patted me on the back. "Its alright I'm not asking you to tell me your whole life's story," he continued to console me as he led me out of his office and back into the main entrance. "I have decided to room you with one of our recent graduates her name is rogue, the two of you are close to the same age. She will be able to help you get acquainted with the mansion."

I headed up to where Xavier had said that my room was located. When I got there I stood outside the door adjusting my hair and tried to erase any sign of tears from my face before opening the door to face my new roommate.

As I walked in to the room I came face to face to my new roommate she was about my same height and build with a wicked white streak in her hair. She looked like she had been waiting for me for a long time because once she saw me she released all of that pent up energy at me at once. Taking my bags and asking me everything from my name to my favorite ice cream all in one breathe. Once she had finished she seemed exhausted from the effort and crashed on a bed that was made in the corner. Seeing a bed opposite of hers I sat my stuff down and began to unpack.

"How would ya like a first class tour of the mansion once ya get unpacked." my roommate had seemed to regain her energy.

"That would be great" I was practically inside my bag trying to make sure I got all of the nick-knacks out before unpacking the cloths.

After I had unpacked all of my cloths I looked at them unsatisfied with what I had brought with me. "I don't think these are going to cut It." rogue had now joined me as I was examining what I had brought. "I was on a dig in north Africa when Xavier contacted me." I indicated the miss mash of olive and tan colored shirts and shorts spread out on the bed.

"I guess we will just have to go shopping' then huh shuga" she started to gleam at the possibility of hitting the mall I had to admit that the idea of going shopping helped lighten up my mood.

"I haven't been shopping sense I left England, it should be fun"

The revelation seemed to turn rogues joy of shopping into sheer anticipation.

"Well go first thing in the morning, we don't teach classes on Saturday so we should have the whole day to ourselves." rogue seemed to calm down a bit, however the anticipation was still very evident.

"How about that tour now" rogue walked to the door and ushered me out. As we walked she explained that we were located in the adult wing just off of the girl's dorms. There was a lounge located in between the two adult wings that helped to separate the girls and guys dorms while allowing the adults to remain connected to each other. We walked out of the dormitory and passed the front entrance. A small group lead by the man that had shown me in was putting the finishing touches on the windows. Rouge lead me into the cafeteria were a small group of students seemed to be trying to study while eating dinner. From there we cut through the student lounge headed to the classrooms. When rouge showed me the room where I was going to teach I was taken back by how much the room looked like the various college classes I had taken. There was an assortment of maps and artifacts cluttered around the room.

"This is amazing, I think I'm going to love being here" behind me rogue began to giggle

"Dork much, shuga"

It took me a minute to register what she was saying. When it hit I slapped her playfully on the shoulder and tried to do my worst 'shuga'.

After reliving childhood for a second we both headed back towards the main hall were all of the teachers were supposed to meet with Xavier so he could formally introduce me.

I found my self-standing in Xavier's office about ten minutes later. I had been standing speechless for a few minuets now and I could tell that Xavier was starting to wonder if I was going to be all right.

"Um well hi I guess, I've never been big on the whole large group thing so I may sound like a wreak. Well my name is Rose, Rose-Marie Darkholme.

* * *

Chapter two

"My name is rose" I tried to swallow the knot in my stomach. "Rose-Marie Darkholme." At that I began getting odd looks from every one in the room.

Trying not to lose my momentum I kept going. "I 'm not sure exactly were I was born but I have spent the last 10 years living with foster parents in England. My mum says that I had some sort of traumatic experience when is was little, that's why I cant remember anything"

The looks on their faces turned sad and a general feeling of sorrow and pity filled the room.

"I graduated from prep school when I was fourteen then went on to got my first Baccalaureate degree at sixteen majoring in world history with a concentration in ancient lore and a minor in anthropology. After graduation I began doing masters work in crusade mythology receiving my first doctorial and PhD. I had been on a dig of a roman knights tomb in north Africa when I was contacted by Professor Xavier."

Every one in the room seemed dumb funded. Xavier spoke up " how about you share your mutation with every one" waiting for me to respond.

"Ok, well, I'm a polymorph." Every one looked confused until a young girl with brown hair in the back spoke up and asked me if I was anything like the polymorphs in dungeons and dragons. Not sure about what she was talking about I tried to explain "a polymorph is similar to a shape shifter but instead for just moving around their mass to look like something else, a polymorph changes the make up of their cells to actually become that person down to the last micron."

"Can you obtain another mutants powers too?" Rogue had chimed in.

" Yes I can, in order to properly polymorph some one or thing I have to make physical contact. Other wise I just have to guess. Guessing however can be quite ugly."

"How long can you keep it up"? Again this one came from rogue.

"Indefinitely I think, after making contact I should be able to call back that form whenever I want." I looked around the room trying to think of a way to demonstrate when I noticed a tall brooding fellow with weird glasses over his eyes. " What is your mutation" looking his direction.

"Optic blasts" he looked like he was trying to figure out were I was going with this

'Are they like lasers or-"

"Concussive"

"Ok let me have your hand" I walked over and he looked at the professor questioningly.

"Its alright Scott let her do it" Scott turned to me and lifted his hand.

Taking his hand I tried to concentrate on it feeling up the synapses in the nerves and traveling up to his cerebral cortex in order to map out his body structure and physique. Letting go of his hand I concentrated on moving my nervous system to match his and let instinct take care of the rest. As my body began to alter my legs grew longer and thicker my chest began to flatten out and I began to grow large muscles on my stomach and abs. My arms grew a few inches and sprouted huge biceps. Lastly my head shifted to allow for a longer face as my hair shrank and emulated his own. As I opened my eyes I found that everything seemed to have a reddish glow to it.

"Are you immune to these optic blasts of yours" Scott nodded and I let out a long stream of energy right at his chest. Letting up on the blast I quickly changed back and sat down. "Now that I have imprinted him I should be able to change into his form when ever I want. I've also been toying around with the idea of picking out certain traits. Which would allow me to use his optic blasts with out having to change completely"

With that Xavier explained my schedule for summer classes and adjourned the meeting. As everyone left they came up and introduced themselves, first there was Scott who I had just imprinted. The man whom I had met earlier that day was named Logan, after that I met Ororo, Kurt, Piotr and Kitty. I turned to follow Rogue back to the room but she had already left.

* * *

Waking up the next morning I literally jumped out of bed. I had never been to the states before much less one the malls and was absolutely giddy over the idea. Rogue wasn't in the room so I ran down stairs to find her.

When I got down stairs I found a large hairy catlike man with blue fur standing behind the stove with glasses on and a white apron that said "Smile I'm Your Doctor."

Without missing a beat he turned and gave me a huge smile "hello you must be the new history professor"

Not sure how to respond, "my name is Rose" offering him my hand

Taking off an oven mitt he grabbed my hand and shook it "my name is Henry"

He had the most adorable face accented by his wire rim glasses

"I don't remember seeing you at the faculty meeting last night" I was pretty sure I would have noticed him

"I was out last night on call" he returned to his eggs and started to flip them

"Your a doctor"? I had turned my attention to an open box of applejacks on the counter and fixed my self a bowl.

"That I am, I have a few patients in the area that I see every few months"

"That's nice, one of the things I was worried about when I came here was medical care."

"Really, why is that" he turned from his eggs to see me stuffing a large spoonful of applejacks into my mouth.

"In England we have free health care for all students and families."

"Well we take care of our own here, unfortunately I can't say the same for the rest of the country." He returned to his eggs and flipped them onto a plate.

"So were is every one this morning?"

"I think there was bomb scare in the city and they all went to take care of it" he walked over and sat down next to me

"So why didn't you go with them?"

"Someone had to be here for the students" between egg bites

"So Xavier went with them"

"That he did" he got up and went over to the refrigerator "do you want anything?"

"Orange juice would be nice" he came back with a glass of orange juice and a glass of milk and sat them down on the table.

"I was going to work on my lesson plans today but I couldn't find a list of New York's academic requirements"

"The professor should be able to give you that once he returns" he had finished his eggs and was rinsing off his plate. " Do you do any fencing?" he turned to see me get up and walk over and put my bowl and spoon in the sink.

"I love fencing" with that he smiled

"Would you like to join me in the exercise room."

"That would be great" we left the room and Henry showed me the way to the adults exercise room.

* * *

The room looked like a small gym with bar bells on one wall and training mats all over the floor with different kinds of markings for different types of sparing.

"This is amazing" I was in shock "I was a champion back at college"

Henry walked over to a rack with foils on it, selecting two he walked over to a matt and handed one to me.

"I hope you don't mind if we go without pads, I can get a little hot in them"

"No problem, while were at it how about we go without tips" he nodded and we both took off the round tips covering the point of the swords.

"On Guard!" Henry shouted as he lunged towards me.

"Nice try!" I blocked his thrust and jumped away.

Slashing up he parried and forced away my sword slicing my left thigh.

"Not bad" I said while lunging forward stopping just short of his parry and side stepping him to slice at his arm.

"Not going to work," he said while twirling around and blocking my foil.

He lunged forward again but this time he tumbled around me and sliced my back

"Ah! Bloody hell!" I regained my composure and spun around to face him.

In a rage I lunged and made a swath across his chest

Flying backwards in a blur of bloodstained fur. He grabbed his chest and charged at me.

Evading his charge I kicked the back of his leg forcing him to the ground.

Pointing my foil at his throat "give up?"

"I give" leaning down I grabbed his hand and helped him up kissing him on the cheek.

"Now what was that for?" raising a blue eyebrow

"What can I say? You're a cutie, fuzz ball." Grinning I lead him over to a bench to put a towel over his chest until we could get to the infirmary.

Once in the infirmary we put gauze on his wound and he began looking at my cuts.

"Those are nothing really" I said. he looked up at me with a dissatisfied look

"I think not" he cleaned my wounds and put some gauze over them

"Ah, that stings" I wrenched in pain as he tightened the gauze

"Don't be such a baby" he said

"O really" I grabbed his arm and forced him against the wall and drove my mouth into his

Pushing me away he exclaimed, "what are you doing"?

"Just shut up, and kiss me"

* * *

Chapter Three

"That smells delicious, what do you call that" Henry and I had returned to the kitchen were he was preparing some sort of family recipe.

"Bratwurst and sweet sauerkraut" he smiled and returned to his sauce pan

"um, I love German food, my mum used to say that I could eat nothing but German food and be perfectly happy" I got up from the table and wrapped my arm around Henry's waist letting the sauerkraut overwhelm my senses.

"Your not just saying that to make me feel good are you?" he looked up from the pot and his big catlike eyes looked right into mine.

"Never, and don't look at me like that or we wont get anything done." I leaned into his neck and let my self get lost in the warm comfort of his soft blue fur.

I hadn't heard a peep out of the students all day. Before coming to the kitchen Henry and I did a patrol of the campus running a head count of all the students. To my surprise they were all counted for and under perfect behavior, well as perfect as teenagers go, seeing no harm in leaving them be we had gone to the kitchen for lunch.

"Do you make this often?" the smell was intoxicating

"Unfortunately not, Logan and Kurt seem to like it but they haven't been here for long so until their arrival I couldn't really indulge myself." he kept stirring the kraut apparently waiting for it to do something. "Ah, perfect, just the right odder" he turned and smiled heading to the bread cabinet pulling out a couple for hard rolls and returning to his concoction. He took a ladle and dumped the kraut onto the rolls. "I have to let the kraut ferment for three months to get it to the right acidity."

"That's a long time to wait to eat something" my mouth was watering as he brought the rolls over to the table.

"Well I had started to ferment these for the fourth of July in a couple of weeks. And today seemed like a good day to see if it was ready to put in jars" he sat down and started eat his roll when Logan walked into the room.

"Hey bub, ya save me any?" Logan had already walked over to the pot before Henry could answer. "Nope oh well I guess I'll have to wait a few weeks"

"Is the rest of the team back yet?" Henry's attention began to shift "is anyone hurt?"

"No bub, nothing major it was mostly red tape" Logan left the kitchen headed towards his room.

"What a strange man" I said while taking a bite from the roll. "This is delicious" I smiled at Henry and kissed him on the cheek.

"Henry have you gone and made more of your damn sau'krout again it was bad enough knowing that you were going to make it for the forth but now you make us suffer three weeks early too." Rogue walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. "Oh, hi Rose didn't know you were in here, you like that god awful stuff?"

"Not really" I joked and looked at Henry with a mischievous grin and burst out into laughter at look on Henry's face. "I'm kidding Henry I love it" I leaned over and purred into his ear and kissed his cheek.

"Wow are you guys like dating or what cause you kind of just met right" I nodded and smiled.

"Yeah it was love at first blood" Rogue stopped dead in her tracks and looked right at me like she hadn't heard something right "I'll tell you the whole story at the mall over a latte." I kissed Henry on the cheek and thanked him for the sauerkraut.

* * *

Rogue and I hadn't even gotten off campus before she started egging me for details.

"So how did you and Hank happen?"

"Hank?"

"That's what we all call him"

"Strange, anyway I couldn't find you this morning so I figured I would work on my lesson plans over breakfast, so anyway I ran into Henry making eggs, and I'm like oh my god he is gorgeous, I try not to let on while somehow getting myself into a fencing match with him, without pads or plugs on the foils no less, so one thing leads to another and were both sliced up all over the place" using my cuts and scrapes as examples. "I totally kicked his butt, and when I bent over to help him up I kissed him on his cheek"

"Hold on a minute you just kissed him out of the blue"

"Yeah I don't know were it came from, well I do but at the time I wasn't even thinking. Then we went to the infirmary to clean our cuts I just totally lost it and started to make out with him."

"That so does not sound like our Hank." she looked over at me giggling. "So what did you have to do to get Hank to go along with It."?

"Oh it wasn't easy, but it didn't take long for him to melt." I couldn't help but giggle at the image of Henry trying to stop me.

We both laughed all the way to the mall.

* * *

By the time we had made it to the mall we had finally got our selves under control.

"You know what's really strange about the whole thing is I have never been that forward before." we had gotten out of Rogues SRT and had started to walk into the mall

"Sounds like Hank was just what you needed."

"You think so."

"Absolutely."

The mall was like a smorgasbord. I had never seen so many cloths in one place before.

"This is amazing"

"This is nothin' shuga. Lets go"

We made our way to the food court where we bought lattes and scones. After an hour of wondering around the mall Rouge had finally found the store she wanted. The store looked like a mirror of Rouges closet. After picking up some jeans and peasant tops. We headed to get some sandals and some leather slip-ons. On our way to a swim suit shop the ground began to rumble and the people around us began running and screaming rouge and I turned around to see a tall brown haired boy wearing a flannel t-shirt and torn jeans followed by a short wiry haired boy flicking a lighter.

"John what are you doing here." Rogue insisted.

"Do you know these people Rogue" rogue seemed to be starring down the boy with the lighter.

"Yeah, john used to go to Xavier's before joining the brotherhood, as for his dumb looking friend I have no idea."

"You'll have to fill me in on the brotherhood later, as for the tall dumb looking guy some one needs to tell him that grunge is out." rouge laughed at that but the tall kid just seamed to get annoyed

"I can hear you ya know."

"I know you can hear me Einstein." he started to get really mad and the ground began to shake again. "Alright I vote we leave, the last thing the school needs is its teachers showing up on the front page of the New York Times."

"I agree, but john wont leave without a fight, some sort of macho thing"

"Then we better work quick and put them down fast."

"Agreed, so what's the plan." she looked over at me waiting for me to answer.

"I'm not sure, what are your powers?"

"Similar to yours just no shape-shifting, and I cant really control it."

"Oh all right, well lets see." before I could think john had to get his two bits in.

"She is useless isn't she." that just made both of use mad

Without waiting for a plan to form. I began to shift into Scott's body. It only took a second for me to change. John and his buddy seemed to get scared and back up. Until the idiot in flannel decided I was just some illusion and charged at me. I let a wave of concussive force engulf him. Knocking him back 15 feet. And slammed him down hard on the floor.

"That's enough!" a loud clear feminine voice came from behind the boys where a tall blue skinned woman was standing taking in the ordeal. "Lets go and let these lady's go about their day" the tall boy stood up and limp over to her while John slowly turned and ran after them.

Turning to Rouge "what on earth was that all about, and who was she."

"They were a bunch of idiots that don't know when there out classed, she on the other hand is Raven Darkholme."


	2. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Darkholme? why did that sound so strange. It must be a common German name. That's it, its just coincidence.

"Are you ok" rogue was sitting next to me in the food court. "Say something hun, your scaring me"

"Yeah I'm ok" Liar "just a little shaken up I guess, I've never changed that quickly before".

"I'm not buying that for one minute." Hear it comes. "I knew last night when you told us all your name, that there must be some connection, that and your powers"

"What do my powers have to do with this?" rogue obviously knew more about raven then I did.

"Raven Darkholme or Mystique as she likes to be called, is a shape shifter." She sounded like she had prepared this.

"Oh" god that sounds stupid here I may have found my mother and all I can think of is, oh?

"Yeah it's a shocker for sure, very few people know her real name, and even fewer know mine." she just sat there like she was talking about the news.

"What do you mean?" my head wanted to explode.

"My name is Anna-Marie Darkholme" this must be what a brain aneurysm feels like.

"God my brain hurts" and it did I felt like Henry was taking swings at my head with a sledgehammer.

"I understand, I'll be honest I was a little jealous of you last night."

"Why"

"Because, after you said your name I knew what that meant, I knew you were my sister. That's why I asked you what your powers were. I wanted to know if you had been dealt the same fate as I had been, but what I heard wasn't what I wanted. I was furious that you had more control over your powers then I did, hell your way more powerful than me. That's why I stormed out of the meeting and that's why I didn't wake you up when I left this morning."

The faculty meeting the night before made much more sense now.

"I'm sorry I had no idea" it was the truth she hadn't told me anything about her powers. "So what are your powers anyway?"

"Like yours kind of, only I can't change physically other than slightly more body hair or this damned white streak in my hair. And I can't control it either."

"Do they come and go?"

"No worse my powers are always on" poor girl I knew what she was going through.

"Yeah, same here until about a year ago" I had spent all of my free time for years trying to master my powers.

"Really, but you have such control." That's a laugh

"No I don't, I never had any one like Xavier to help me. Everything I know I read in a book. And a lot of guess work. I found this book on the Way of the Samurai, and I started to study concentration techniques. Disciplining my self so I could control my mind."

"I never had time for anything like that, I've only been at Xavier's for less than a year. Before that I was on the road for a long time, that's how I met mystique. I had been living with foster parents ever since I was really little. But an accident with my boy friend turned everything upside down". She is a lot more open than I was when I didn't have control.

"I'm sorry I didn't know"

"That's ok, I usually don't like to tell people about it" this conversation is starting to sound like daytime telly.

"Hey, how about we grab an ice cream and head for the mansion?" anything to take my mind off of mystique.

"Sure, that sounds fun we can show kitty what we bought"

"She was at the meeting, right?"

"Yeah she was, she has been the closest thing to a best friend I've had ever since I left home."

* * *

After ice cream we headed back to the mansion. As we walked out of the garage Logan was painting a strange symbol on the wall by the front doors. 

"That's beautiful Logan" and it was, it had sharp black lines with a solid black circle around it.

"Its Japanese, from bushido, samurai use it to protect their temples." He seamed to exude discipline. "I spent some time in Japan studying under a samurai master from the hand."

"You were in the hand?" the Hand was renowned as the greatest group of assassins in the world.

"Hell no, those posers are not true samurai. All they care about is power."

"A samurais true path is to search for honor." I felt proud of myself for knowing that for about two seconds.

"You know nothing about the way of the samurai" all of a sudden Logan's voice had turned ice cold.

"Come on Logan lighten up will you." Rogue slapped Logan on the arm.

"Never, but if you think you can take me then be in the danger room at nine am tomorrow" Logan's face didn't move for almost thirty seconds before rogue broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Any time old man." Logan's mouth spit into what looked more like a smirk more than a smile.

As we walked up to the girl's dorms Logan had returned to his painting. Kitty's room was across the hall from ours. She shared her room with her boy friend Piotr Rasputan. When we knocked on the door Kitty stuck her head right through the door.

"Oh, hi rogue, come on in" we opened their door to find Piotr sitting on the bed half naked in front of a canvas. It depicted a green field full of lilies. However Piotr had grown about 6 inches and his skin was covered in a semi translucent metal alloy.

" Hi Piotr" rogue seamed not to notice that his skin was made of metal.

"Hello Rogue, hello Rose. What brings the two of you back so early." As he turned to face us Piotr's skin returned to normal exposing his entire torso.

"You know the brotherhood they cant seem to give us a moments peace." I started to wonder if this was making the new girl confused day. For I still had no idea what the brotherhood was.

"The brotherhood was at the mall? Have you told the professor?" kitty seamed to get really nervous at the mere mention of this brotherhood.

"Not yet, I figured I would tell him in the morning" rogue seemed to have lost her interest in the subject. "So want to see what we bought?"

"Absolutely, Piotr I'll be back later" the three of us walked across the hall to our room.

Once inside, we took everything out of its bag and began assembling outfits. After trying on all of the clothing I had bought in various combinations we all sat up late talking about boys until the early hours of the next day.

* * *

At daybreak I woke up to find my room covered in the cloths I had bought the day before. Kitty lay in the middle of the floor wrapped in one of my shawls. I got out of my bed and tried to get to the bath without stepping on her. 

After washing up I headed down stairs to the teachers kitchen. Unable to get to any of my cloths with out waking Kitty up, I went down in my wife beater and a pair of light blue pajama pants.

When I arrived in the kitchen it was completely empty save for the scruffy looking man who went by the name, Logan. He was hunched over the island counter with a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other. He seemed to be lost in his newspaper, as he didn't even acknowledge that I was there. Walking over to the cabinets I pulled out a bowl and a box of cereal. Grabbing a carton of milk I sat down in front of him.

"Good morning" I said as I sat down with a gracious smile on my face.

"Its ok I uses" he didn't even look in my direction as he spoke.

"So, are we still on for this morning" I had decided I needed to have somewhat of an edge when I spoke.

"I had challenged Rogue not you"

"As a Samurai you challenged me just as much as you did Rogue." I looked directly into his eyes with out flinching for a good five minutes before he broke out in a smile.

"You think you're a Samurai do you, this I have to see." He got up from the table and threw away his beer. After walking to the door he turned around and gave me this almost maniacal stare. "You coming runt."

"Lead the way" I got up from my bowl and followed him out of the kitchen. He led me down a hallway towards Xavier's office. About halfway he turned towards the wall and pushed a panel at the top. I could hear pistons releasing and part of the wall popped out. Grabbing the edge he pulled back to reveal a small tube like chamber.

"This will take you down to the subbasement" reluctantly I climbed in and Logan shoved the wall back into place. As soon as the wall was in place the floor seemed to plummet down into the ground. I was in the steel death trap for only five or six seconds before it stopped and the wall in front of me opened up. As I stepped out of the elevator Logan was already waiting for me. "What took you so long"?

With out waiting for me to answer he turned and walked down the hall. This hallway seemed like it came out of a science fiction movie. The walls and floors were all steel with large circular doors. He walked to a door on the far end of the hallway and waited for me to catch up. When I reached the door he pushed a small panel on the wall. As the door opened I could see a large steel room at least three stories high with a large clear dome at the top. Through the dome I could see lots of computer panels.

"This room is used by the x-men for training. It uses holograms to project any possible scenario." He walked into the middle of the room and looked up at the dome in the ceiling. "Cerebro, activate program, wolverine: training level one."

Instantly the room faded around us and we were standing on straw flooring in an ancient Japanese temple with thin paper walls and solid black wooden support beams.

Logan walked to the far side of the room and opened a black box on the floor taking out two Samurai katana.

"Here kid" he turned around and handed me one of the swords.

Taking the sword from Logan I wiped the katana from its scabbard and began to perform one of the practice drills I had taught my self. Taking the sword back in my right hand and raising it up I twirled the sword down and swung up so that the blade was facing up grabbing the sword with both hands I spun ending with the sword at average throat level.

"Not bad kid, take your stance" Logan turned around and walk six steps away turned around and place his right hand on the braid of the hilt placing the sword above his left thigh. Moving a few steps back I emulated his pose.

We stood perfectly still like predators evaluating its prey looking for the right moment to strike. In one fluid motion my sword was out of its sheath moving towards Logan's throat. Before I could reach my target he blocked my sword with his sword still in it's casing, with one hand on the handle and the other hand on the scabbard above the guard. Pulling the sword from the scabbard Logan spun around aiming for my throat. Ducking out of the way I pulled my sword from Logan's scabbard. Bringing my sword up in an upward arch Logan blocked with his sword and popped me in the head with his scabbard. I started to lose balance but not before I plunged forward with everything I had driving my sword deep into Logan's chest. As my adrenaline lowered I had just enough time to realize what I had done before blacking out.


	3. Chapter 5

Chapter five

I woke up lying on a bio bed in sickbay. Henry was standing over me looking at monitors built into the walls.

"What happened?" I sat up on the bed rubbing my temples. "I feel like I was hit by a Double Decker"

"I'm not surprised, you banged your head up pretty bad. I'm going to have to talk to Charles about those steel floors." He placed his hand on my shoulder and let a small smile escape on his face. "You may be slightly off balance for a few days, but you'll be fine."

"You're the best Henry" getting off the table I reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at dinner."

I had reached the door to sickbay before I remembered what had happened in the danger room. I froze not sure what to do. Finally deciding that I needed to ask Henry about Logan I turned around.

"Henry is Logan ok." I lowered my head afraid of what he might tell me.

"Oh he's fine. Logan can survive just about anything" to my surprise Henry had the largest grin on his face.

"Thanks, Henry" I turned and left sickbay.

On leaving sickbay I was greeted by the same metal hallway Logan and I had passed through earlier this morning. I stood still not sure of what to do. Finally deciding I was not ready to face what rogue and the others would say about what happened I walked down the hall back to the danger room.

I walked into the danger room and stood at the center of the room. Looking down I could see a stain of Logan's blood still on the floor. I looked up at the control room and heaved a breath.

"Cerebro activate wolverine training level 1"

"_Acknowledged_" came a cold metallic voice "_beginning training exercise_".

Instantly I was back in the temple. I sat in the center and crossed my legs. I sat and meditated for at least an hour before realizing that some one was behind me. The smell of aftershave was unmistakable.

"Back for a rematch old man" I remained sitting not even opening an eye.

"I haven't been caught off guard like that for some time." I could feel him walk past me to the other end of the room. "Where did you learn how to use a katana.'

"You know, here and there" I remained in my place with out flinching.

"That's bull. It would take years of training to become good enough to strike that fast without thinking. Trust me I have fought the best and only one of them was fast enough to strike me like that. But he's dead. Rogue told me that you had learned bushido from a book. But not even Sage could learn the way of a sword like that from a book."

"Who is Sage"? I said in a tone that was completely devoid of emotion

"That's not the point runt. The point is that you have been lying to all of us since you got here two days ago."

"Have I now?" at that I opened my eyes and stared at him. "Care to test that theory".

I got up and headed past him to the ornate box holding the two katana. Removing them both I tossed one in Logan's direction. He caught it easily and walked to the other end of the mat. It was clear that he had, had enough of playing around as he angrily throw the scabbard of his katana from the blade in a quick twist of his wrist. He drew up with his sword parallel to his torso and his waist slightly bent. I slowly removed my scabbard and let it bounce on the floor. I spread my legs apart and set the hilt of my sword at eye level with the blade parallel to my face. The stance was similar to that of a baseball player preparing for a pitch. What happened next went by so fast I could hardly remember moving. In a flurry of steel we clashed forward and back each thrust we made was met by a defensive strike. This continued for what seemed like seconds but in reality was more like hours. In the end we were not stopped by any effort of our own but instead by the voice of the professor. Lowering our swords we looked up to see the professor in the control room above.

"I hope you are satisfied with your selves" came his voice sounding slightly metallic through the intercom. "The two of you have wasted an entire day slashing at each other with swords. Miss frost's class had taken a tour through the control room. And upon seeing your fight her class lost complete control. It took our combined effort to pry them from the glass. The school has become a beehive of gossip over the two of you. Much to Dr. McCoy's embarrassment the most popular of these rumors is that the two of you are quarrelling lovers. Now I expect the two of you to desist this behavior and report to me when you have cooled down."

I didn't even bother to see if he had left. I dropped my sword and stalked out of the room.

I stepped out of the lift depositing me in the main hall of the school. Trying to ignore glances from the students I walked off to my room. When I arrived at Rogues room and mine I found it empty. The clothes had been picked up and put away in their drawers and my bed had been made. I plopped down on my bed and fell asleep.

When I came to, Rogue was sitting on her bed looking at me.

"You scared me girl." Rogue seemed calm and supportive.

"What do you mean" I looked at her with a confused look on my face.

"What do I mean? You fought against Logan. That's what I mean. No one I know of has ever fought him and lived." Her warm smile stated to quiver. "What the hell were you thinking doll. You could have gotten very dead."

"I appreciate the concern but I had everything under control" I buried my head in my pillow.

"God you need to learn to lie better hun because I am not buying that for a second. I snuck into the control room this morning. You seemed to completely change like something switched on and turned you into some sort of animal." She looked more intense now like she was on the verge of crying. "All I could think of was that I was going to lose my sister and I had only just started to get to know her." at that bean to cry and shiver uncontrollably. I got out of my bed and wrapped my arms around her.

"There, there I'm not going anywhere ok. What happened with Logan this morning was inevitable. I have been running from my past for far to long. Its time I came clean to you and told you everything." I pulled away and stared right into her eyes and smiled.


	4. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rogue and I and moved our conversation downstairs to the kitchen. I sat down at the table opposite Rogue and set two bowls of ice cream down on the table.

"I'm not sure where to start." I slowly started to eat the bowl of rocky road in front of me.

"Try the beginning". Rogue had not touched her ice cream yet.

"I'm not sure when the beginning is. You see I don't really remember a lot."

"Amnesia seems to be a norm around here." She looked at me cold. "Logan for example can't remember anything past 10 years ago."

"Yeah, when I first meet Logan he reminded me of a man I had known long ago. But they can't be the same." I put my spoon down and bean to play with my hair. "I didn't learn bushido from a book I was trained by a man named James Howlett he was a samurai in the clan Yashida. I left when our master Ogun went mad and destroyed the temple. He said that the Hand had been corrupted by gaijin." I sat up straight not wanting to look at her. "That's when I went to Manchester University. I decided to put that life behind me and start over"

"Does the professor know about this?" It felt like she was burning a hole through my head the way she was starring at me. "I thought you said that you had grown up in England"

"I did, you see I'm not really 18 years old. In fact I don't know how old I am." I refused to look at her so I began to play with my spoon in the ice cream.

"Oh, amnesia thing right." She sounded like she was loosing her fire.

"Yeah I guess, I don't remember a lot. Most of my memories up until my parents adopted me are chaotic. It is as if I spent a lifetime living off pure emotion. Scents, I remember scents and colour. That is it; it is as if my life was a painting coming into focus. The doctors said that they could not determine my age by any of the usual methods. So they dummied a birth certificate."

"How did you know what your name was?" She sounded like she was getting defensive.

"I can remember a voice saying that a woman's voice. She sounded nurturing. Anyway, I always remembered that voice. I remember feeling a desire to find that voice again. I searched for it but I never found it. Not that I can remember anyway. I remember that my parents found me in an orphanage in London. I was a mess I had learned most of my English from the nuns there."

"I'm sorry this must be really hard for you," she sounded sympathetic. "I don't remember much from before my parents adopted me either. Though I'm pretty sure I'm not any older than I look."

I looked into Rogue's eyes and saw total compassion she had lost none of her bite but had instead transformed it into a kindred love that I doubt we will ever be able to break.

"Raven must have done something to us to keep us from remembering her." Now that the mood in the room had lightened considerably, I smiled and began to devour my ice cream. "Some mother she is huh?"

"I wonder if she even remembers that she has children. I mean after all the times I have meet her during the time I have been with Xavier you would think that she would have at least acknowledged me." Rogue had a sour look on her face that could have killed a boar.

"I'm sorry, it must be tough."

"What gets me is that she has no problem talking openly to Kurt but giving her daughter the time of day is too much to ask".

"Hold on Kurt is my bother too, how many x-men did she conceive?"

"That's it I think, but at this rate we may come across a nest of blue scaly children any day now!" at that rogue broke out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"God, when did my life become day time telly? I swear things were much less complicated before I came here."

"Come on being trained by a demon samurai who just happened to be a member of the Hand isn't complicated." Rogue rolled her eyes licked her spoon.

"How did you now that Ogun was a demon?" I was completely dumb founded I would never have guessed that a gaijin like rogue would have known Ogun's identity.

"I've heard Logan talking about him. He had a lot of respect for him."

"So did all of us he may have been crazy but he was a great samurai. I however hold no remorse over his death. My only regret is that Ogun didn't live to see the Hand and Yashida finally come together."

"What do you mean? I thought you said the Ogun was I member of the hand. Logan is always saying that the members of the Hand aren't true samurai."

"That is because the clan Yashida split from the Hand years ago. Recently the leader of Yashida named the Silver Samurai and Elektra the new master of the Hand combined their schools. This is the best thing that has happened to these two dojos for centuries, hopefully." I returned to my ice cream and had finished the bowl when I was hit by a sudden burst of enlightenment. "You said that Logan knew Master Ogun. How is that so?"

"He said that of the memories that are the most intact from the past few decades the most vibrant are the years he spent studying under Ogun."

"That's odd you would think that I would have met him their." I was becoming very confused.

"I think you did you said that there was something about Logan that reminded you of this James character right. So maybe they are the same person. I think he certainly knows you. He says the name rose often enough in his sleep."

"What?" she was in for it "no wonder you two are always flirting with each other. But isn't it a little weird dating a guy that's so much older than you?"

"Well talk about it later I think you need some sleep before your meeting with the professor tomorrow." At that, we went back to our room to catch what little shuteye was left in the day.

I could not help but think that this had been one crazy day. But then again who knows what tomorrow might bring.


	5. Chapter 7

Authors Note: Hello, everyone I apologize for how long it has been since I posted the last chapter. Please read and review.

Legend of the Rose

Chapter 7

The morning came and I found that I was ready for anything life could throw at me. Rogue must have already gotten up, as she was not in our room. Quickly I fixed up my hair and threw on a pair of tan shorts before heading downstairs. When I reached the kitchen, the x-men were all sitting around the breakfast table. Wolverine was standing in front of the stove cooking eggs.

"Hey Rose you want some." Wolverine took the cigar out of his mouth long enough to speak.

"Sure thanks Logan." I walked over to the table and took a seat.

Piotr and Kitty were sitting next to me not that they would have acknowledged anyone else but each other's eyes. Rogue was sitting to my right trying desperately not to look in Bobby's direction. I leaned in close to her ear to whisper.

"Hey girl there a particular reason why your trying to avoid Bobby." At that, she blushed.

"I have no idea what your talking about." She was lying and I knew it.

"Sure then its nothing Logan wouldn't mind hearing." She slapped my arm.

"Don't you even dare?" rogue looked at me as if she would skewer me were I sat.

"I was just kidding my goodness don't have a heart attack." I teased and started to giggle.

Rogue laughed and kept eating her eggs. Logan came over and put a plate of eggs in front of me.

"Eat up kid." Logan smiled and walked back to the stove.

"He just smiled at me." I was beside myself. "I didn't think he could."

"Girl you better not make fun of my boyfriend or I might have to hurt you." Rogue smiled and stuck out her tongue.

"Don't get me started on that subject please. I might have to bring up the whole age thing." I chuckled and started to eat my eggs.

"Oh yeah how much younger are you than Hank." She was not going to give in.

"Yeah but at least we were born in the same century." I stuck my tongue out at her before getting up to take my plate to the sink.

I left Rogue at the table and headed up to our room so I could change before my meeting with Xavier. I wanted to look professional so I put on a pair of navy slacks and a white blouse. Over that, I wore a navy blazer. I decided to wear my hair up in a ponytail and slipped on a pair of low healed navy hush puppies. Once I was ready, I headed down to the main foyer. Opening the door to Xavier's office and walked in confident with my most serious face. Xavier was seated behind his desk arms folded under his chin he looked like he was sizing me up.

"Good morning Professor Xavier. How are you today." I walked straight in and took a seat in front of his desk.

"I'm very good, thank you Professor Darkholme. I hope you found last night very restful." I winced when he said my name. _Damn I cannot afford to lose it._

_Do not be worried Doctor, I appreciate the effort to put yesterdays events behind you. _"However it is not necessary." He simply smiled.

"That is a very odd sensation." I said with a smile.

"Yes I tend to have that effect on people." he reached for a file on his desk and began flipping through its contents. "I have you class schedule ready for the summer semester. I am afraid that with the new classes starting soon I could not afford you the luxury of setting up your own schedule."

"That's perfectly alright." I smiled as he handed me the folder in his hands.

"Now I have heard from Logan that you will make an excellent addition to his field team." He reached into his desk and produced a silver medallion in the shape of a circle surrounding an x. "this is the communicator to your uniform in the war room."

"Aren't you going to ask me if I want to be on Logan's field team?" I was not surprised just curious.

"I already know the answer to that question." He smiled and placed his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair. "Now I don't not have a problem if you and Logan continue to exercise in the danger room, but from now on make sure that you have the room reserved first."

"Thank you professor." I got up and walked out of his office. _Thank god, that meeting is over._ I leaned against the wall in the hallway and examined the device in my hands. It looked like there was a button built in. curious I pressed down on the communicator. Instantly glass panels set around the x symbol started to glow pale purple. _I think I am going to like it around here._


	6. Chapter 8

A/N: Spoilers hey everyone sorry about the delay. I meant to update this a long time ago. This chapter catches up with the movie. Just in case you guys have been living in a whole Scott is going to die and storm and best are going to loose their powers.

Chapter 8

We had stopped telling time the way the rest of the world did. Today was PR+14 exactly fourteen days after what we called the "Phoenix Rising". Several weeks had passed since I had arrived at the school in that time almost everything had changed. Scott's wife Jean had literally come back from the dead just to turn and kill him. Bobby had finally given up on Rogue and had been dating Kitty ever since Peter had come out of the closet. As a result Rogue and I did not socialize with the rest of the team much. After Bobby had broken Rogue's heart she wouldn't leave her room for days crying her self to sleep every night. That was until one night when Logan visited our room. The next day neither of them could be found anywhere on campus. When they finally showed up that night rogue had a spring in her step and a song on her lips. I spent a week egging her about their relationship. I would like to say that our bond became stronger that week but that would be a lie. In all reality I was jealous. After Henry lost his powers I realized that I was never really in love with him. He had taken the news pretty hard but in the end I think we parted as friends.

Logan had been given the job of putting the team back together. With Scott gone and Storm and Henry without powers those of us left were a pretty rag tag group. The team was made up of Logan, Rogue, Me, Bobby, Kitty, and Peter. Only Logan and I had any combat experience. Logan decided that we would split the teams training schedule up into to different sessions a day. One was a basic jujitsu course that Logan taught while I worked on getting the group to better use their powers as a team. So far things were not going well I had blamed most of the failure on myself however Bobby and Kitty did not make things easy. I found myself watching them wherever they went. I even followed them around campus. I wasn't sure exactly why I did it what I did know was I had this insatiable desire to hit Bobby when ever I noticed him ignoring Kitty.

I let the team go early so that they could get ready for their dates. It was Friday and I knew they could use the break. I was the only team member without a date. Bobby was taking Kitty to the movies and Logan was taking Rogue into town to see a musical. Even Peter had a date I felt pathetic. Leaving the danger room I didn't even bother to change out of my sweaty sports bra and sweat pats. With all of the students gone of the summer I had started to take full advantage of not having to be as modest. Quietly walking to my room I managed to make it to the bed without having to talk to anyone. Once in my room I plopped down on the bed and passed out.

When I finally woke up I realized that I had not even bothered to take off my dirty cloths. I got up out of bed and headed into the bathroom. The shower radio clock read seven thirty and I let out a sigh of relief I would have the mansion to myself for several hours. Peeling off my cloths I stepped into the shower and turned the hot water all the way up. I was half way through washing my hair when I heard a high pitched shrill over the sound of the shower. Quickly turning off the water I grabbed my bath robe and headed down stairs. When I reached the kitchen I found boxes of food thrown all over the room and large puddles of water on the floor and soaking the walls. From the kitchen I walked into the TV room. There curled up in a ball was Kitty she was leaning against the wall desperately clutching her legs. Walking over to her I squatted down and laid a hand on her shoulder. At first she tried to jerk free but relented when she recognized me. My hair was sopping wet and I had no cloths on but the thin robe. But for some reason I didn't care all that mattered was that Kitty was hurt and afraid.

"Are you going to be ok honey?" I tried to calm her down. "What happened?"

"He attacked me. He just attacked me." Kitty still wouldn't look me in the eye but this was a start.

"Who attacked you?" before she could answer I knew he answer.

"It was Bobby. He got mad all of a sudden and started throwing balls of ice at me." I was furious he had no right attacking her.

"Where is he now?" I wanted to bash his face in with his own damn ice balls. "He won't hurt you anymore" I started to get up when her eyes shot up and looked me straight in the eye. Her eyes seemed to be pleading me to stay.

"Please don't go I don't want to be alone." I had heard of people looking so sad and cute that they looked like a puppy but I had never experienced it myself. Yet that was exactly how she looked.

"Don't worry dear I'm not going to go anywhere." I pulled her up off of the floor and sat next to her on one of the couches facing the door. Wrapping her in my arms I kissed the top of her head and willed with all of my heart that I could make everything better. This wasn't exactly how I had expected to find out that I was gay but I suppose no one really does.


	7. Chapter 9

A/N: here you go all of you true believers

Chapter 9: Water n' Ice

The night passed slowly. It was now close to midnight and kitty and I had not left the couch in the student rec. room. Bobby must have fled the school after their fight because I had not heard nor seen him the entire evening. Shortly after midnight I could hear cars pulling up the drive. Kitty seemed so distraught that she did not even budge as Henry's voice came echoing through the kitchen. His voice became louder as he called my name.

"Rose where are you?" he sounded worried he must have just then found the mess left by Bobby and Kitty's fight.

"I'm in here Hank." lifting my head up from Kitty's shoulder I watched as he came in.

"What happened to the kitchen?" Henry said only just realizing that Kitty was on the couch with me.

"Robert Drake is what happened Henry." I tried to keep from fuming but the emotion was burning me up inside.

He stood in disbelief as Jean Gray walked in behind him. Jean had been confined to the lower levels during the duration of the school year but know that the students had gone the professor felt it safe and necessary to let her integrate with the team. A sense of dawning came over her face as she watched us sitting together. I knew that there were some things that even the most controlled telepath could help but pick up. My hate and malice toward Bobby Drake was one of them. Getting up from the couch I kissed Kitty on the forehead and walked passed them headed toward the garage.

"I need to find out where he went." Hanks eyes went wide and he attempted to place a hand on my arm to stop me. Before he could reach me jean placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't Hank. She needs to do this." I looked back at her and saw a passion in her eyes like fire. She knew what I was going through and for just a second we shared a bond. We would both do anything for the ones we loved. Henry might not have understood but he didn't need to.

When I reached the garage Logan and Marie were just returning from there night out. Smiling at the two of them I grab one of the bikes left after Scoot died and began checking it for fuel. The pair walked up to me and gave me strange looks at my have soaked robe. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going out have dressed like that are you?" Logan's voice snapped me out of a trance and I realized that I wasn't really wearing anything.

"No I suppose your right. Meet me here in ten minutes." I turned and ran back into the house before he could say anything.

Ten minutes later I emerged from the garage door wearing my full field gear. The leather was a poor idea for tactical purposes but I would have to argue with Xavier about that later. Mounting my bike I waited for Logan to join me.

"So what are we doing exactly/" Logan said cocking one eyebrow.

"Bobby ran out earlier this evening and I need your help tracking him." I turned over the engine and revved it before changing gear and speeding off down the drive. Before following me Logan received a metal message from jean explaining what had happened without any more thought Logan roared his engine and speed after me.

Nearly an hour later Logan and I veered off the road and stopped next to a long stretch of wood. Getting off my bike I looked at Logan quizzically.

"So why are we here?" I said

"This is where his sent is going." Logan turned off his bike and began walking toward the woods.

"Why on earth would he go in here." it didn't make any sense, why would he wander into the wilderness. Walking through the brush I started to notice patches of ice on the ground. "He must have been in a panic to activate his powers so randomly."

"Yeah kid was probably afraid I would be the one coming after him." Logan said take a long drag on hid cigar.

"To bad I'm going to get to him first." I sad looking over my shoulder to Logan. "He'll wish you would have."

Logan smiled and trudged along ahead of me. We had travelled nearly two miles on foot before the trail started to fade. Bobby must have run out of steam as the patches of ice became more of a scattering of water puddles. The trail became erratic. Paths crossed together and swerved from side to side. After another five minutes we reached an impasse. The trail ended at the shore of a large lake.

"You don't think he went in do you?" looking up and down the bank we couldn't find any signs of tracks. "He would do something that dumb would he?"

Logan simply shrugged his shoulders. I knew I was going to regret the decision but I wasn't about to let Bobby cop out on his responsibility buy killing himself. Tightening the collar on my uniform I dove into the water. As soon as I hit the lake my body tensed. I felt like I was being stabbed bye hundreds of sharp knives. I swam as fast as I could for the bottom of the lake. Sure enough I had no sooner reached the lake floor than I started to see trails of ice leading down several meters. Almost at the centre of the lake was a giant ice sculpture of Bobby Drake. Swimming up to him I hold to god that my gloves would protect me from the cold and grasped onto his waist. Hauling him up to the surface of the water. I started to get winded. Several air bubbles escaped my mouth making me panic. I fought to overcome my hysteria just long enough to reach the shore. Half way there I started to tier and my arms wouldn't pump as hard as they were. I cursed my self for never copying an aquatic mutant. Just when I needed my powers most they weren't any good. By the time I had reached shore I could hardly pull my self out of the water before passing out.


	8. Chapter 10

disclaimer: I dont own the x-men or any characters

Chapter 10: Warmth

Cold all I could feel was cold. Cold was all around me. Every inch of my body felt like it was completely numb. My eyes were dark and all I could see were wisps of shadow. All of a sudden I could no longer feel gravity beneath me. And then just as soon as it was gone it came back and my vision changed to a field of white. I could faintly hear voices mumbling over me and then I was standing on a beach. I could feel sand underneath my now bare feet. I could smell salt in the air and heard a crashing sound as waves hit the sand. Turning around I saw a precocious red head in a deep crimson coloured one piece swim suit with a pair of sandals in on hand and the other hand was behind her back. Looking down I noticed that I was now wearing a white bikini with a wrap around my waist.

"What's going on?" I said the red head just smiled.

"We are in your mind Miss Darkholme." She said I now realized that I must be seeing a younger Jean Gray. "Yes I am Jean."

"That's creepy" I said knowing she must have read my mind. "What are we doing here?"

"I thought it was best if we talked before I revive you." I nodded my head to let her continue. "To be honest I think you and Kitty would make a beautiful couple but-"

"Whoa, wait a sec. Couple as in like dating?" Jean nodded "oh well I'm not… I mean nothing against people who are but-"

Jean smiled and threw up her hands. "All right say no more. I believe you but I also believe that on some levels you are attracted to her." My eyes bugged sure I cared about Kitty but not like that I think. "I have been doing some probing since right before you left the mansion. And I think that in this life you lead before you lost your memories you weren't as up tight about such things."

She began to walk down to the shore and sat down in the sand with her feet in the water. Dumbfounded I sat down next to her and stared out at the sunset. "This is a lot to absorb."

"I know it is. And I understand but your mind is starting to sort it self out and you need to be aware that even if you don't feel that way anymore you are probably going to start having impulses. You may even find your self screaming some woman's name in the middle of the night or remember a tender moment you shared with someone." She quirked an eyebrow "don't worry I wont tell anybody about it. I will even shield your mind so not even Charles will be able to tell."

"You would do that for me." I said turning my head to look at her. She simply smiled and kept looking at the sunset.

"Well we should probably get back to the medical centre at the mansion." I nodded my head and began to stand up. "If you ever need to talk to anyone I'm always just right down the hall."

I hardly had a chance to respond when all of the pain came back. I could feel a cold hard metal table beneath me and a long needle sticking into my left arm. I tried to open my eyes only to find that they were already open. Bright white light was all I could see. Then I could hear jeans voice again but not just Jean's but Hank's and Logan's as well. I could see a hand in front for my face and the light went off and my vision slowly returned to normal. I could see Hank and Logan to one side of me and Jean and the professor on the other both Jean and Hank were wearing lab coats. Charles looked troubled and Jean was trying to avoid his attention. Removing the needle from my arm and turning off all of her equipment she smiled and helped me up.

"That was a dumb stunt you pulled girl." This of course came from Logan who looked at me and shook his head. "Damn brave though."

I attempted a weak smile. "Yes well I didn't get a Ph.D. for thinking on my feet." I said chuckling lightly. This earned me a warm smile from Charles. "So am I clear to go" My body was sore all over but I would live.

"Yes you are. I think you will be just fine." I could feel Jean in my head like a warm blanket. "I would advise you against using the danger room for a few days but considering your normal training regimen I'm not going to hold my breath."

"Good cause I was planning on ignoring that advice anyway." Charles shook his head and excused himself from the room. "So how is the popsicle doing?"

"He'll live. His body has completely changed. I think he took on to much water in that lake. His body seems to have filtered out all of the normal bodily tissue and replaced it with ice. I ran a CAT scan and couldn't find half of his organs I would have pronounced him dead if I hadn't detected his alpha waves." She glanced over to where he was. Bobby was hanging suspended in a large tank of water. "I think that his body is undergoing some sort of secondary mutation much like Henry. Best I can figure he needs to take on more water to complete the process."

"I remember when Magneto attacked Bobby had learned to cover himself completely in ice could that have been the first step." I had gotten up to examine his body. "God listen to me always the scientist."

"That's ok I did the same thing when we found the two of you." Jean grinned and began running more diagnostic tests.

Henry came up and began to set the machines on automatic. "How about the two of you get something to eat I have everything under control down here."

I turned around to see what Logan was doing and found that he had gone. "Sure I think I could use a cup of coffee." Taking off her lab coat Jean followed me out. "Do you mind if we go up to my room first so I can change out of these cloths."

"Not at all hon." She smiled as we walked up to the adult dorms which were the only rooms being used during the summer. An old friend of Charles had taken those students that didn't have homes to go to for the summer to her home in Scotland. The school felt empty without them. Finally reaching my room I could hear slight sobs coming from inside I turned to Jean and could tell she had sensed it as well.

Walking into the room we found Kitty curled up into a ball on my bed and Rogue was sitting up on hers dumbfounded. Jean had a knowing smile on her face.

'_It looks like your not going to be able to hide your past much longer.'_ I cocked an eyebrow at her and mad a mental sigh before turning to Rogue.

"How long has she been like this?" I asked

"Ever Since she caught sight Logan bringing both you and Bobby back on stretchers." Rogue looked confused and unsure of herself.

I walked over to my bed and placed a hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Hey girl how are you holding up" She flinched at my touch and turned her head. I could see streaks on her face from where she had been crying a large damp spot could be seen on both my pillow and my sheets. She didn't say anything but looked into my eyes. I could see a lot of hurt and pain in those eyes. "Hey I'm ok all right and so is Bobby." Kitty jerked her head and looked over my shoulder at Jean who simply nodded her head. Kitty started to cry again. Pulling her in closer I let her rest her head on my shoulder and slowly patted her back. "Hey here's a bit of irony for you the big jerk probably won't be able to touch another person for a long time without turning them to ice." Kitty looked up at me and managed a small smile. "Now how about we let you sleep awhile." Kitty nodded her head and lay back down. Nodding to Jean we both left the room to let her sleep. '_Well this is bad_'.

'_Tell me about it.' _Jean shook her head as we walked to the kitchen_. 'One or both of you may have to leave before the summer is out.'_

Slowly I nodded my head. _'Yeah no matter how much Charles cares he cant have something like this going on between two of his teachers.'_ Quietly we entered the kitchen and I got two beers out of the small refrigerator. "Who decided to stock these?" Jean shock her head

"Must have been Logan" I nodded it seemed like a natural assumption.

"So what are we going to do?" I sat down and opened my bottle taking a swig.

"I think I remember Kitty saying once that she was thinking about going to Harvard to get a Ph.D. In astrophysics" Jean said as she took a long swig on her beer. "Looks like as good a time as any especially with our new protectorate status now that Logan has joined the Avengers." My eyes went wide.

"When did he do that?" I was shocked.

"He got a call from Tony Stark a few days ago. They needed his help with a breakout at the Vault or something. After they bagged some of Logan's old enemies they asked him to join." Wow things sure changed fast.

"So who is going to lead the team now?" I knew she could tell who I thought should take the job but she seemed unconvinced.

"No, I think you should do it." I shook my head I was a scientist not a field leader. "And before you say no think about it. You have just as much training in martial arts as Logan. And you have a lot of years putting that training into practice." She finished off her beer and headed for the fridge to get another. "I mean come on; you were the Hand's top assassin for what twenty years."

"How on earth did you know that?" I had to have looked like a deer caught in the head lights of a truck.

"I'm psychic remember" she sat back down and held her bottle up in a salute "how about this we both swear to never fall in love again."

"I'll agree to that." I tapped our bottles together and shared a long gulp of Canadian beer. "God what I am I going to tell Kitty."

"Tell her the truth. And if you have any trouble I will be right there to make sure she doesn't do anything rash." Jean smirked and drained her beer.

"Yeah what's the worst she could do." I said. Jean seemed to falter and I couldn't feel her in my head anymore. "Cut that out. I think I'm addicted to you being in here."

Jean snapped out of what ever trance she was in and my brain began to fell much warmer.

"Sorry about that" Jean smiled "That tends to happen. The professor says my powers are omega scale."

"Omega scale, that's like as big the Uni-Power." Jean nodded her head.

"Don't remind me" Jean rolled her eyes. "I'm afraid I'll wake up one day and not have a bed."

"That wouldn't be good." Jean just smirked. "Anyway like I was trying to say earlier don't doubt what Kitty can do. She got possessed by Ogun once and ever since she has been seen training in the danger room. We even got a visit form Elektra once."

"Ogun, When?" my eyes had widened and my pulse started to race. "I didn't know about this. And Elektra showed up here at the school."

"Don't worry this was before you showed up." I relaxed a little and I could feel the phoenix force warm my mind and ease my fear. "I think she likes you."

"Who Kitty" I said not really paying attention.

"No the Phoenix she has quite taken to you." For some reason that didn't bother me "I think you remind her of Logan."

"Why would I remind the Phoenix of Logan?" I was slightly more alert now.

"Because I think she believes you belong to the same race of mutants."

"Race of mutants what do you mean?" I was now thoroughly confused.

"Logan belongs to one of the mutant races we call the ancients" Jean smiled and threw her bottle away. "You see there have been mutants on earth for centuries. And over the years five distinct races have evolved. Most are considered myth or legend. Like vampires, werewolves, and various others.'

"Vampires are mutants." that didn't make sense.

"Yes they are I don't really want to get into the specifics but Logan belongs to one of these Immortals." I just sat and nodded. "So the Phoenix thinks you belong to one of the immortal races too."

"Can't argue with you seeing as I can't remember back more than twenty years." I sat back and let the Phoenix embrace me. "So why has the phoenix force embraced me like this."

"Well to be honest I am the phoenix force so I am the one rubbing our head psychically speaking. I just find it easier to deal with by referring to it as a separate entity."

"So why are you doing it." I asked

"Well being an asexual organism the phoenix force is born developing an embryo and is constantly looking for a compatible donor to contribute to completing the gestation process." Jean almost looked mischievous.

"Didn't we just have a discussion on how homosexuality was a no-no?" I was a little drunk on top of being almost comfortable enough to go sleep.

"Well technically it is asexuality not homosexuality. And anyway the phoenix just develops a connection with someone and then after several years gathers enough psychic material to complete the egg. Then the egg will stay dormant until I die and it can be born from my ashes." Jean almost had me hypnotised.

"So is that why you were with Mister Summers?" I wasn't really paying attention to what I said but I could tell she was sad.

"I have to admit that one of the reasons I felt so close to him was because of the report we had." She paused and faulted for a second "but yes I think that is why. Ironic that it was I fully awakened as the phoenix that killed him."

"That's ok hon. it wasn't your fault you had no idea what your were doing." I smiled and tried to comfort her. "Both Logan and I have experienced the same thing." Jean nodded her head. "Come on Red lets get you to bed and we can worry about all of this in the morning." Jean got up and we headed back upstairs not ready yet to face the actions of the past day.


	9. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Marvel Entertainment owns all these characters even Rose. (I dare you to figure out who she is.)

Loose-Ends

I found it disturbing to stand in the Professor's office. He looked so different he stood about six feet two inches with a full head of hair. The most disturbing though wasn't the fact that he could walk but the voice. His voice sounded no different than it did before Phoenix had destroyed his body. The effect was rather unsettling. Standing up from behind his desk the Professor came around and shook my hand.

"I'm glad you came by Rose. I have been meaning to ask you about how the team has been going." He sat on the edge of his desk and gestured towards the chair opposite him. After I sat down he continued. "I understand that your ranks have been depleting. Regrettably it seems that during my absence there have been numerous scandals. One of which involves some sort of love triangle between Mr. Drake and two of his team-mates. And Mr. Rasputin has made the shocking revelation that he is a homosexual." Xavier picked up a folder on his desk and leafed through it. "I have been reviewing the files trying to find replacements for your two missing team-mates."

Holding up my hand I interrupted his train of thought. "That number might be growing shortly."

A frown grew on his face. "Jean told me about Kitty. I have been trying to find a way to deal with that." He rubbed his chin with one hand. "I have a friend in England who is trying to put together a team of mutants. I already have Kurt Wagner there. And I'm sure Brain could use the extra help."

I frowned I really didn't want to get rid of Kitty. "I don't know, I'm just very confused."

"I can understand what your going through you should have seen some of the sessions Logan and I have had over the years. Every time I opened a new door he started rambling on about whole families that were long since dead." The professor continued flipping through his folder. "At any rate we have about a month before we need to resolve that matter. Now I have several candidates here for the x-men. The two I like the best are former students of this school." He pulled two sheets of paper from the folder and set the folder back down. "I don't believe you ever met Jubilation Lee she graduated about a year ago. She has the ability to ignite and manipulate kinetic energy. The other is Warren Worthington the third. This young man was one of my first students he has a pair of large avian wings that protrude from his back as well as hollow bones allowing him to fly. He also has a low level healing factor." placing the files down on his desk he got up and walked over to one of the large picture windows. "I got a call from Henry this morning. He has lost his position as the ambassador to the United Nations."

I was stunned, Henry had been so proud of getting that job. "What happened?"

"It seems that the so called cure that he developed for himself and Ororo didn't exactly work. He was found laid down in a ditch in Paris with half a dead rat in his mouth. He experienced some sort of secondary mutation making his appearance much more feline. Ororo is in Africa somewhere and I can't seem to track her down to find out if she has her powers back as well." The professor turned to me attempted a warm smile. "I have agreed to let Mr. McCoy return to the institute."

"The team could use him." I lied. I turned my head to keep from looking him in the face.

"I understand that this may be a little difficult." He said returning to his desk.

"It's not a problem." I got up from the chair and started to pace. "I need to tell you something important."

"What is it?" He said warmly

"After the incident in the lake my powers haven't worked right." I was glad he had stayed out of my head.

"How so?" he said sitting down.

"I can't change my appearance to look like the people I imprint." I began absently staring at the books on his shelf remembering to first time I had stood in this room. "But at the same time I don't have to imprint people anymore. I body can simply adapt to any power I want or need."

The professor chuckled. "Seems like a fairly equal trade off to me." he crossed his legs and formed a pyramid with his hands "I wouldn't be too concerned. All mutants about your age start to notice changes in their powers it is a natural step in the process of becoming how you were meant to be."

"Thanks professor." I turned and walked out of his door. It was good to have him around. In my head I could feel that Jean was nearby. Walking over to the TV room I poked my head in and saw Jean sitting next to Leech watching Saturday morning cartoons.

_Hey red. _I said to Jean

_So how did the meeting with the professor go?_ I heard her response in my head but her body seemed completely focused on the TV.

_How can you still use your powers so close to Leech?_ I replied

_Trade secret_ she turned toward me and smiled. _So did you remember to ask him about the costume change you wanted to make?_

I had completely forgotten. _No, but I'll just call up Forge and send him the measurements for whose left on our team._ I walked up and sat down on the arm of the couch next to Jean. 'You know I have a really good feeling about this.'

'That's good; I think we're going to be ok.' She said giving me a warm smile.

I believed her every thing seemed to be finally fitting into place.

A/N: That's it folks. I know that chapter was a long time coming I just had a hard time letting go. Stay tuned who knows what I might write next.


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